One guys rant

[Big Sky Guy]

Is this a Matt Walsh monologue? Had him on in the background the other day and he was saying something pretty similar.

 

[CRJR45]

Not to spoil the ending for you young guys , but the only thing golden about the golden years is your piss !

 

[SAJ-99]

I call bullchit on this. That dynamic is real, but FAR from a complete explanation, IMO. Just track wages vs. the cost of real estate, education, etc. Living as frugally and simply as our parents, or grandparents would not be enough to attain their purchasing power. My dad went to an ivy league college and paid his way by bartending part-time..

I never said it was complete. There are a lot of things at play, but I have numbers. Average size of a home = 1970 1600sq ft, 2015 2500sq ft
Average family size decreased from about 3.6 to 3.15 over same period. Bigger homes and smaller families. That shows Americans changing their expectations of what they consider normal. Did it drive the need for a second income or did the second income drive the expectations higher? I can't answer that.

Wages not growing fast enough is certainly a problem, but more for tax revenue. There is other data showing we spend less of our income on fuel and groceries than we did 40 years ago. Most everyone is walking around with a smart phone or watching a big screen TV. Makes me wonder what exactly people spend their money on and if they are willing to "sacrifice" it to become a one-income family, and is there something special about that?

Any comparison to your Ivy league Dad might be tough because it is anecdotal. If your point is a college education is too expensive, I would agree. We have elected to reduce federal funding to colleges for the last 40 yrs. Again, most of the items in the rant need to start with us looking in the mirror.

 

[TOGIE]

Wages not growing fast enough is certainly a problem, but more for tax revenue. There is other data showing we spend less of our income on fuel and groceries than we did 40 years ago. Most everyone is walking around with a smart phone or watching a big screen TV. Makes me wonder what exactly people spend their money on and if they are willing to "sacrifice" it to become a one-income family, and is there something special about that?

i can tell you a lot of people my age spend an absurd, absolutely ridiculously larger amount of money on health, fitness, and quality food than did my/their parents.

in general i think the younger generations spend more on their hobbies (incidentally including health and fitness). we all watched our parents and grandparents piss away their lives and health in an office only to finally retire and barely be able to walk quickly get cancer and die.

this is all anecdotal of course. but money well spent regardless IMO

 

[Nick87]

. Most everyone is walking around with a smart phone or watching a big screen

Stuff. So much stupid stuff and everything is disposable.

 

[CRJR45]

Stuff. So much stupid stuff and everything is disposable.

When we went on the road in our RV I gave an entire house of furniture away , two floors of couches and chairs, tvs , stuff .
Gave it to my friend, he got divorced and she got all of it .
It was funny at first seeing my old stuff in their Facebook posts , lol .
But all I stored was the gun safe , and content, a bedroom set , and Walter , my rag horn mount .
Ended up buying a house in Florida and it’s full of stuff again , just stuff , and Walter .

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

TV's are such a boomer thing to compare generational spending on. In the 90s a 32" television was $700-$1000. You can get a 65" 4k LED Sony for that price today. Electronics prices have experienced huge deflation.

 

[Hem]

TV's are such a boomer thing to compare generational spending on. In the 90s a 32" television was $700-$1000. You can get a 65" 4k LED Sony for that price today. Electronics prices have experienced huge deflation.

My daughter has our first 32" flat screen from early 2000's in her dorm room. Think we've had 2-3 larger flat screens since that crapped out after 3-4 years. Cheaper cost for a reason.

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

My daughter has our first 32" flat screen from early 2000's in her dorm room. Think we've had 2-3 larger flat screens since that crapped out after 3-4 years. Cheaper cost for a reason.

Hasn't been my experience. I haven't seen a tv die since plasmas were a thing, and I've bought more than 3 in that time frame.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

I never said it was complete. There are a lot of things at play, but I have numbers. Average size of a home = 1970 1600sq ft, 2015 2500sq ft
Average family size decreased from about 3.6 to 3.15 over same period. Bigger homes and smaller families. That shows Americans changing their expectations of what they consider normal. Did it drive the need for a second income or did the second income drive the expectations higher? I can't answer that.

Wages not growing fast enough is certainly a problem, but more for tax revenue. There is other data showing we spend less of our income on fuel and groceries than we did 40 years ago. Most everyone is walking around with a smart phone or watching a big screen TV. Makes me wonder what exactly people spend their money on and if they are willing to "sacrifice" it to become a one-income family, and is there something special about that?

Any comparison to your Ivy league Dad might be tough because it is anecdotal. If your point is a college education is too expensive, I would agree. We have elected to reduce federal funding to colleges for the last 40 yrs. Again, most of the items in the rant need to start with us looking in the mirror.

I see this comparison quite often and find some fault in it. If you go back another ~70 years and compare 1970 to 1900 how many of those homes in 1900 had running water and electricity? Yet it didn't take two incomes to get homes with electricity and indoor plumbing in 1970. Those seem like a bigger luxury items to me than an additional 1k square foot home.

You can also look at automobiles, which I believe Bill Gates has a somewhat famous quote criticizing the cost over time as compared to computers/electronics. In 1990's power windows and kelyess entry were lux, now they are standard, go back even further and power steering was lux. Early 2000's remote start was lux, now it seems pretty standard. Even if a consumer wanted a "bare bones" vehicle can you even find one with manual locks, sans cruise control, backup camera etc.?

For sure I agree the standard of living is ever increasing, I do my best to be thankful for everything we have and often think of how easy it is to live in 2026 just turning on a hot shower instantly, even if it also seems quite expensive.

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

I see this comparison quite often and find some fault in it. If you go back another ~70 years and compare 1970 to 1900 how many of those homes in 1900 had running water and electricity? Yet it didn't take two incomes to get homes with electricity and indoor plumbing in 1970. Those seem like a bigger luxury items to me than an additional 1k square foot home.

You can also look at automobiles, which I believe Bill Gates has a somewhat famous quote criticizing the cost over time as compared to computers/electronics. In 1990's power windows and kelyess entry were lux, now they are standard, go back even further and power steering was lux. Early 2000's remote start was lux, now it seems pretty standard. Even if a consumer wanted a "bare bones" vehicle can you even find one with manual locks, sans cruise control, backup camera etc.?

For sure I agree the standard of living is ever increasing, I do my best to be thankful for everything we have and often think of how easy it is to live in 2026 just turning on a hot shower instantly, even if it also seems quite expensive.

Median Age of All US Homebuyers: 59 Years - Apollo Academy

In 2010, the median age of all US homebuyers was 39 years old. Today, it is 59, see chart below....

www.apolloacademy.com

Younger generations don't drive the home building market either. I know a lot of millenials and gen z that would love to see more 1000-1200 sq ft houses, but we don't build nearly as many of them. Starter homes in were replaced by 4/3s for developer profit in many areas.

 

[Nick87]

My daughter has our first 32" flat screen from early 2000's in her dorm room. Think we've had 2-3 larger flat screens since that crapped out after 3-4 years. Cheaper cost for a reason.

Beat me to it. Other household appliances are even worse and not exactly less expensive either.

 

[Hem]

Beat me to it. Other household appliances are even worse and not exactly less expensive either.

10-12 years lifespan.
Hard water big culprit.

Last year.
New kitchen refrigerator.
The garage fridge quit( I only paid $50 for it)
New Water heater.
New igniter for oven.
I think the softener is on its last legs.
All decent quality.

Bosch dishwasher a champ.

And the creme de le creme...used chest freezer purchased in 1993, its a workhorse. Old fashion quality.